This sumptuous book, a feast of nostalgia, celebrates the wonderful era of the European Formula 2 Championship, which began in 1967 and concluded in 1984.
F2 pitted emerging heroes against the greats of the day and in its earlier years virtually all the top F1 drivers — names like Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt and Bruce McLaren — battled with young chargers in races that thrilled huge crowds at the best European circuits, from Thruxton to the Nürburgring, Enna-Pergusa to Pau, Rouen-Les-Essarts to Mugello.
- The first season, 1967, when Jacky Ickx became the first champion, driving a Tyrrell-entered Matra
- French Matra cars propelled the next two champions, Jean-Pierre Beltoise (1968) and Johnny Servoz-Gavin (1969), both Frenchmen
- Of all the manufacturers of F2 cars, March achieved the most success, Ronnie Peterson (1971) becoming the first of six champions to win in these British-built cars
- A fine all-British year, 1972, saw ex-motorcycle ‘great’ Mike Hailwood win the championship in a Surtees car
- French champions in five consecutive years: Jean-Pierre Jarier (1973), Patrick Depailler (1974), Jacques Laffite (1975), Jean-Pierre Jabouille (1976) and René Arnoux (1977) dominated their era and all but Jarier went on to become Grand Prix winners
- Toleman and Ralt cars — also made in Britain — emerged in the final years of the championship, which saw three more British champions: Brian Henton (1980), Geoff Lees (1981) and Jonathan Palmer (1983).
- The other champions were Clay Regazzoni (1970), Bruno Giacomelli (1978), Marc Surer (1979), Corrado Fabi (1982) and Mike Thackwell (1984)
Nearly 900 photographs, the great majority taken by Jutta Fausel, bring the glory days of F2 back to life in this book, along with expert commentary and detailed statistics, complete with a Foreword by Jacky Ickx and an Afterword by Chris Witty.
Jacky Ickx is one of the true greats of motor racing. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, he was both highly successful and hugely versatile, racing at the highest level in a wide variety of categories — including Formula 1, sports cars, touring cars and rally raids — and winning throughout. Among many accolades, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours an unprecedented six times and twice finished runner-up in the Formula 1 World Championship. This exhaustively researched book has been written with his full co-operation and outlines every one of the 565 races that he contested in cars and on motorcycles, forming a detailed and insightful record of his racing life supported by over 850 photographs, many of which have never been published before.
- Starting in motorcycle trials, Ickx was twice crowned Belgian champion before switching to four wheels; he immediately proved himself a winner in touring cars and single-seaters, becoming European Formula 2 Champion in 1967.
- From 1967, he established himself as a star in sports cars, driving blue-and-orange Gulf Mirages and Ford GT40s to numerous successes, culminating in his first Le Mans victory in 1969 with its famously close finish.
- Snapped up by Ferrari for 1968, he achieved a heroic first Formula 1 victory in that year’s rain-soaked French Grand Prix, confirming his career-long reputation for peerless driving in wet weather.
- Other than one season with Brabham, Ickx spent his best Formula 1 years with Ferrari, achieving eight wins in the period 1968–72, and twice finishing second in the World Championship standings, with Brabham (1969) and Ferrari (1970).
- Post-Ferrari, his Formula 1 fortunes waned but he thrived in sports cars, claiming three successive Le Mans victories, with Mirage in 1975, then with Porsche.
- After his fifth Le Mans win in 1981, the rebirth of sports car racing in the Group C era from 1982 saw Ickx as anchorman in the all-conquering works Porsche team, a four-year period that brought his record sixth Le Mans victory, 12 wins in total, and two World Champion titles.
- After retirement from circuit racing, his later career took him into entirely different motorsport adventures in rally raids, where his Paris–Dakar record includes victory in 1983 (driving a Mercedes-Benz) and second places in 1986 (Porsche) and 1989 (Peugeot).
This is a racing driver’s biography of exceptional depth that all motorsport enthusiasts will treasure.
